Advanced Song of Blades and Heroes

ADVANCED SONG OF BLADES AND HEROES PDF

Advanced Song of Blades and Heroes is the updated incarnation of the award-winning Song of Blades miniatures system.

Play fantasy skirmishes in any scale, with any models you already own.

With an expanded magic system, an exciting turn sequence, a reaction system, an optional setting, weapon rules, an open-source point system, and combat mechanics that keep players involved at all times, there is no limit to the epic stories you can create.

88 full-color pages plus covers,PDF

The download includes a 77 page inksaving version with no illustrations and no blank pages, for those of you who want to print at home.

THIS IS A COMPLETE, STANDALONE GAME. NO OTHER PURCHASE IS NECESSARY.

EASY MEASURING: no counting inches or centimeters: SBH uses three measuring sticks to measure all distances;FAST: A game lasts about 45 minutes. Play a mini campaign in a single evening;INEXPENSIVE:5-10 models per player are needed;CONVENIENT: a 3’x 3’ play area (for 28mm figures) is enough.MULTI-SCALE: any single based miniature, in any scale;Standard Six sided dice only;READY TO PLAY: lots of profiles included, and you can create your own!NO BOOK-KEEPING;HIGH SOLO PLAYABILITY;CAMPAIGN RULES: your warband grows more powerful after every battle.

i got in a few games of this over the weekend and loving it so far. But, the buddy I played with is good at figuring out ultimate "builds" and smoked me all three times we played. So, this leads me to a question-

The rules state that only half of your personality points can be spent on a warband. Can all of these points be put into ONE personality, or is there a limit per miniature?

andrea SFebruary 19, 2019 4:09 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

There is no limit but I am curious about your friend's builds. If he wins because of the models, the models are obviously unbalanced/abusive. The idea of the point system is to create variant profiles with different weapons etc not builds to win the game. Characters should be like the ones that are in the book.

andrea SFebruary 19, 2019 6:34 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/file/Chromeknights-guide-to-song-of-blades-and-heroes-profiles.pdf?token=AWy4y9V2JcPSq8ETkB7SWRzzQBHW52TfhoermCoxDCFhVSsplRdPqWN8FtOT-1DC5C5RGwg1p436DeKGiVaMZ__7_bnOzrk9yoins5jhwy4Pc2wt3Jd-5-rnOZThUCDdOxaUbBXaZmrhIa6JTfgrXbv7 I hope the link gets through, this is a fan-made PDF with some interesting considerations about creating new characters in Song of Blades. It's for the revised SOBH but the reasoning applies to ASOBH as well. It's from our Facebook group so I do not know if you can access it if you are not on facebook.

Jaime PFebruary 19, 2019 8:46 pm UTC

PURCHASER

He built a 200 point personality. The first few things I can remember that made it a real challenge was that he had fly, assassin and hunter of the dead and I was playing undead. Basically, if he hit, chances were that any of my models would be put "out of action".

andrea SFebruary 19, 2019 9:06 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

The character is illegal. Assassin and Hunter of the dead are two instances of the same ability and should not be taken together.
Assassin does not work against undead and it is limited to C2.
Hunter of the dead works only against undead and is limited to maximum of C2.

You should create your warbands in secret, and not reveal your type of models until the game begins. You could create two separate warbands and decide what to play at the last moment for example, to make sure the opponent does not design a counter for your every trait.

Jaime PFebruary 19, 2019 9:18 pm UTC

PURCHASER

Me personally, I just think that there should be a cap on how many points can go into one personality.

Jaime PFebruary 19, 2019 9:35 pm UTC

PURCHASER

I'm not on Facebook anymore. Is there somewhere else I can get the text?

andrea SFebruary 19, 2019 9:36 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

on the Song of blades yahoo group, or drop me an email at andreasfiligoi@gmail.com and I'll send it.

andrea SFebruary 19, 2019 9:45 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

that would make dragons and high-end sorcerers unplayable.

Jaime PFebruary 20, 2019 9:43 pm UTC

PURCHASER

True

Jaime PFebruary 11, 2019 3:41 pm UTC

PURCHASER

So, I am currently reading the rules and am very much so looking forward to playing this. But, I'm not sure why talent costs aren't listed in the book, unless I missed it. Is there an offline talent cost sheet somewhere that can be downloaded for reference?

andrea SFebruary 11, 2019 4:12 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

they are on my site www.ganeshagames.net where you can also find an army builder (that also works offline) the trait costs are listed in parentheses on the builder. you can also download a PDF with a list of the point costs (I will add this to the download here)

Jaime PFebruary 11, 2019 5:33 pm UTC

PURCHASER

Awesome. Thank you!

andrea SFebruary 11, 2019 5:35 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

I have added to the download here. The pdf was done later and we just did not think of including here, thank you for the heads up.

Jaime PFebruary 14, 2019 8:18 pm UTC

PURCHASER

Sorry, but another question- It says "high solo playability" but I didn't see any rules in there for solo play. Is there a document somewhere that shows these rules? I think they would be great so that I can learn how to use an AI for monsters and such.

andrea SFebruary 14, 2019 8:38 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

Hi, the way I play it solo is simply to create two warbands that could beat each other, or to design a few (let's say 6) warbands as opponents to my own warband, and then randomize who is fighting who. Then I play "two-handed", that is, I play both sides to the best of my ability. The game is simple once you know the ropes and there are almost no "secret choices" so you can play solo. If you look in the files section of the Song of Blades Facebook group, there are fan-made AI rules. If you are really interested in an AI system and a game that was designed for Solo play (or coop play) from the ground up, please check my Sellswords and Spellslingers (that uses a deck of custom cards as AI and event generator).

Jaime PFebruary 14, 2019 8:48 pm UTC

PURCHASER

Sweet. Thank you for the quick response!

andrea SFebruary 15, 2019 12:22 am UTC

PUBLISHER

one thing you may want to use is a marker to remember whose turn it is, as you may get lost with Reactions and Activations. I just put a glass stone counter on the acting warband and switch it when a Turn Over happens.

Brian SNovember 20, 2016 5:03 am UTC

Can existing games like Flashing Steel use the ASBH rules fairly easy? Can SBH supplements be used with ASBH ?

andrea SNovember 21, 2016 10:10 am UTC

PUBLISHER

Flashing Steel is its own game; a new edition will come soon (it's done, we are pagesetting it) and it will include some changes from ASOBH. Remember if you purchased the first edition FS here, you will receive the new PDF for free. Re: supplements. Some info from the supplements is reprinted in ASOBH, some will not work, so there is no clear cut answer: I'd say "no" just to avoid disappointment, but ASOBH is an evolution of Revised and the core rules are very similar if not identical, so most of the published material will work with minimal adjustments.

June 01, 2016 9:43 pm UTC

I'm trying to decide whether to switch over from regular SBH to advanced, but based on the Amazon preview the movement section of the book is confusing to say the least, and this is from someone who is already familiar with the basic SBH rules.

e.g. the whole paragraph under "The movement of non-flying mounted models is reduced for rough terrain" doesn't seem to belong where it is and is very confusing - why wouldn't mounted models have their speed reduced, is there some implied exception here? And why isn't this mentioned under the earlier section on rough movement. And why is this all in the same paragraph with stuff about flying through heavy woods?

Later under jumping down, "four-legged animals automatically pass the Q test..." What Q test? Based on the original SBH rules, I suspect this belongs in the section about horizontal jumping above.

This makes me worry about the quality of the book as a whole. Has/will any of this be fixed up in the PDF?...See more

andrea SJune 02, 2016 9:38 am UTC

PUBLISHER

Movement rules are the same as in the Revised set.
The sentence on non-flying mounted model is just a statement of the obvious because for some readers it was not obvious.

The jumping down Q test is the falling damage Q test. When you jump down, you make a falling damage test if the height is more than the model's height.

The PDF is the same as the printed book, and it has been reviewed by 4 different proofreaders and editors.

June 02, 2016 3:05 pm UTC

The movement rules I saw in the preview are definitely not the same as in the 5.0 Song of Blade and Heroes rule I have. A couple differences I saw:

1) In 5.0, when passing through difficult ground, a Short Move model needs 2 actions. in Advanced, it is unaffected.
2) In 5.0, crossing a linear obstacle is exactly like difficult ground (go down one movement category, if Short Move 2 actions are required). In Advanced it requires 2 actions for anyone, regardless of speed, but you can take a single-die Q check to cross in one action (fail and you fall).

Are they intended to be the same?

andrea SJune 02, 2016 3:20 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

sorry I was not clear. I meant "movement rules in the case listed". At least they are the rules we were using. Going from Revised to Advanced was a gradual process, as some rules were changed over time.
2 actions for Short movement was seen as too much of a penalty.

June 02, 2016 5:11 pm UTC

So if the Q test is the falling Q test 4-legged animals can jump down an infinite distance without being hurt? This doesn't make any sense to me, nor is it in the 5.0 rules. I think the "four-legged animals automatically pass the Q test..." sentence is supposed to be under the horizontal jumping rules, which is where it is in 5.0.

andrea SNovember 21, 2016 10:12 am UTC

PUBLISHER

ok yes, I see the mistake. The idea is that horses can automatically pass horizontal jumps.

Jonathan CApril 09, 2016 5:12 pm UTC

Does this include any material from the supplements of the prior edition (Wind & Water, Deeds & Glory, etc.)?

andrea SJune 02, 2016 9:39 am UTC

PUBLISHER

not exactly. Special rules and some terrain rules yes, but not all, for space reasons.

joshua OAugust 06, 2016 3:44 am UTC

PURCHASER

Does it contain the rules that let me advance characters and design scenarios, or do I still need to buy those supplements?

andrea SNovember 21, 2016 10:14 am UTC

PUBLISHER

Advance characters: yes, there is a small set of advancement rules that are generic, and then more specific racially-themed advancements are in the supplements (there are examples in ASOBH and they are all very similar, so you can easily make your own). There are no special rules to create scenarios, I do not understand the question :-) Scenarios are created by narrative, common sense, and use of the point system if needed.

Joshua LMarch 23, 2016 2:15 am UTC

So if I buy ASBH instead of Fightin' Fungi am I missing out on the abiliity to have lists of mushroom men? To start my ASBH collection is it better to buy Fightin' Fungi or this book?

andrea SJune 02, 2016 9:42 am UTC

PUBLISHER

if you want to play with fungi, I'd buy Fightin Fungi as they have a few specific special rules and spells not repeated here. Also soon Fightin Fungi will include a free PDF supplement that repeats the special rules that are not in Fightin Fungi, as this was promised during the FF funding campaign but I never managed to do this.

Colbert RFebruary 03, 2016 8:14 pm UTC

Does the game require much/any terrain?

andrea SFebruary 05, 2016 10:26 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

Just like any skirmish game. A standard game is on a 3x3 table with 3-6 scenic items. Think a hill, copse of trees, maybe some ruins or a patch of some unusual terrain. It is as terrain heavy as you want to make it.

Simon HFebruary 01, 2016 9:15 pm UTC

Will there be an updated version of Tales of Blades and Heroes to go with this? How do the two relate currently?

andrea SFebruary 05, 2016 10:32 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

Tales is a rpg system. There are many similarities (the core activation and combat system is roughly the same, and converting characters is not difficult). No for the moment Tales will not be updated, most people who played it say that it has the "right" complexity level or their needs. I'm going to publish more material for Tales, especially game world sourcebooks now that we are spending so much work on detailing and mapping the game world Norindaal. If you are curious about the world, check out theNorindaal wiki on
https://sites.google.com/site/norindaal/

This is a great system! The battles keep going back and forth, constantly keeping the game exciting. It is very easy to introduce house rules and to make new creature profiles. The system is open for adjustments and your own ideas. This makes it a lot [...]

Advanced Song of Blades and Heroes is good product for wargaming with a warband, with a few flaws. For this review, I skipped playing with the rules for Magic. It is almost a 5 star review, I gave a 4 star critic to aknowledge the room for improvement. [...]

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